Cash drawer and signal therefor



April 19, 1932. T. M. BUTLER CASH DRAWER AND SIGNAL THEREFOR Filed Jan. 18, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet g ow \l \1 i M mm Q Q w T INVENTOR 7 Tr/o/ ms MEL/male BY Q m AZ/flea ATTORNEYS April 19, 1932. T. M. BUTLER CASH DRAWER AND SIGNAL THEREFOR 5 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 18, 1928 INVENTOR 0 I BY THUMBS M-BVUTLEEZ 8% ATTORN EYS April 19, 1932. T. M. BUTLER 1,854,178

CASH DRAWER AND SIGNAL THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 18, 1928 INVENTOR THoM/as M. Bun E2 ATTORNEY-f Patented Apr. 19, 1932 PATENT OFFICE THOMAS M. BUTLER, OF DETROIT,

MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOB T BUBROUGHS ADDING MACHINE COMPANY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, .A COBFORATION OF IICHIGAN CASH DRAWER AND SIGNAL rnnanron .Appl'ication filed January 1a, 192;. Serial no. 241,524.

This invention relates to a cash drawer and signal therefor.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved cash drawer for use with calculating machines.

Another object is to provide an improved signal mechanism for' a cash drawer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

An'embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the cash drawer showing the means for operating it as well as the signal mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken at right angles to Fig. 1 looking toward the rear of the drawer, some of the parts being broken away.

I Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the signal mechanism when the parts are in normal position.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view similar to Fig.

3, showing the position of the signal mechanism when the cash drawer is partly open and before the signal mechanism has oper- 5 erated.

Fig. is a perspective view of the connection for the sprlng used for opening the drawer.

Fig. 11 is a separated perspective of a portion of the bottom of the drawer and the frame for receiving it showing how the parts fit together in sliding relation. 7

The cash drawer 10 is mounted within a housing 11 adapted to support a calculating machine the base of which is shown at 12 and the casing at 13. Positioned in the housing are front and rear U-shaped members 14 (Fig. 2) which are attached to a base 15 byscrews 16 (Fig. 1) which also hold the feet 17 on the bottom of thebase plate. J ournaled on studs 18 carried b the upwardly projecting arms of the U-shaped members 14 are rollers 19 on which run the flanges 20 ofthe cash drawer.

The cash drawer has afront 21, two transverse partitions 22 and 23, a rear end 24 and a top portion 25. It is also provided with two longitudinal partitions26 and 27 illus trated in Fig. 2.

The U-shaped members 14 also support the housing 11 which is attached thereto by screws 28. This housing surrounds the rear and the two sides of the framework together with the front end except for the opening 29 (Fig. 1) for the cash drawer 10. This housing has a lower flange 30 extendin over the base 15 and an upper flange 31 fitting outside of the base 12 of the calculating machine.

The calculating machine is supported on the cross members 32 and 33 which in turn are fixed to the sides of the housing 11. The casing 13 of the'calculating machine extends over the flange 31 of the housing as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The cash drawer is urged outwardly by a spring 40 connected at one end to a stud 41 '46 which has a bent-over end engaging the under side of the uide rail 42. The clip is also provided wit two lugs 47 extending downwardly from its rearward portion, said lugs bearing against the side edges of the rail 42. The upper and rear portion of the clip has a bent-over projection 48 surrounding a leather cushioning block 49. This cushioning block bears against an angle-shaped member 50 attached to the rear of the cash drawer 10, the upper end of said member extending over the top of the drawer as illustrated in Fig. 1. The lower end of the member 50 has a T-shaped opening to receive the guide rail 42 as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 11. The guide rail 42 has a stop lug 52 on its edge of the arm 73 bottom side near the center which limits'the forward movement of the clip 44 when the.

projection 46 on the spring clip 44 strikes it as the cash drawer is propelled outwardly.

The drawer is normally prevented from moving out by a latch 53 having a shoulder 54 (Fig. 3) which engages the rear end of a slot 55 in the top part of the member'50. The latch is fixed to a shaft 56 journaled in brackets 57 and, it extends outward to the right side of the cash drawerstructure as illustrated in Fig. 2, where it has fixed to it an arm 58 connected by a link 59 with a trip lever 60 pivoted at 61. By pulling the lever 60 forwardly the latch 53 is raised thereby releasing the cash drawer whereupon it is immediately propelled forward by the force of the spring 40 until the spring clip 44 is arrested by the stud 52. When the drawer is pushed inwardly again it is automatically locked in position by the latch 53 which is urged downwardly to latching position by the spring 62 connected to the arm 60 as ilv/lustrated in Fig. 1. The cash drawer signal includes a bell ported at 71 on the rear of the housing sup 11. The bell is rung by means of astriker pivoted at 72 to astud on the rear. of the housing 11. This striker has an operating arm 73 and a striking arm 74 with a striking head 75 upon it. The striker is normally held so that the head 75 is slightly out of engagement with the bell 70 as shown in Fig. 2, by means of a spring 7 6 connected at one end to the stud 77 on the arm 74 and at the other end to a stud 78 fixed to the rear of the housing 11.

- The bell ringing member 7374 is operated by means of a cam 80 pivoted at 81 to lugs 82 extending outwardly from the member 50 on the cash drawer. The cam 80 has an angular cam edge 83 for contacting the and its outer end is bent upwardly-to provide a cam surface 84 for contacting the top of the arm 73, to thereby rock the cam clockwise (Fig. 5). so that the cam 80 will ride over arm 73 and drop into its Fig. 3 position when the drawer is fully moved inwardly. The bell ringing parts operate as follows: y The normal position of cash drawer closed is illustrated in Fig. 3 and diagrammatically in Fig. 6. As the cash drawer open-s the member 80 moveswith it and the inclined surface 83 engages the edge of the arm 73 as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 7, to move said arm clockwise from the position of Fig. 3, toward the Fig. 4 position which rocks the stiiker737 4 clockwise and tensions the spring 7 6. As the end of the surface 83 of cam 80 clears the arm 73 (Fig. 8), the striker 7 3-74 is suddenly released whereupon the sprin 76 draws it downward 1y very suddenly and causes its hammer end 7 5 to strike the bell a sharp percussive blow being onl the parts with the wardly and passes over the arm 73 without affecting the position of the striker 7374. After the cam-8O has passed over the arm 73, it drops back by gravity to the normal position illustrated in Fig. 3. The parts are then ready for another bell ringing operation,

An important feature of the signal construction is that the-signal device-is made out of a minimum number of parts, there one striker and one actuating member t erefor instead of a complicated series of devices for ringing the bell.

Means is also provided for preventing the drawer from being entirely removed exce t through the manipulation of a special latc ing means that is hidden fromview.

Located inside the drawer at its rear end, as illustrated in Fig.2, is a shaft 90, one end of which is slidably mounted in an opening 91 in the side 10 and the other end of which is positioned in an opening 92 in the parti tion plate 26, both of said openings 91 and 92 being just slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft so as to accommodate it without binding. The right hand end of the shaft as viewed in Fig. 2 has two reduced.

portions 93 and 94 joined by an enlarged portion 95 which, however, is of less diameter than the diameter of the main part of the shaft. These reduced portions form annular recesses that serve to hold the shaft in its different positions by engaging the edge of the opening 92 in the partition plate. The shaft is urged downward at its right hand end by a spring 96, one end of which is connected to the shaft and the other end to a stud 97 on the rear of the drawer. The shaft normally occupies the position illustrated in Fig. 2 where it willbe observed that its'left-hand end projectsbeyond the side of the drawer sufficiently to contact the roller 19 when the drawer is ulled out. The shaft thus prevents the rawer from being completely removed, but by reaching inside the drawer, lifting the right hand end of the shaft, and sliding the shaftto. the right until the recess 93 engages over the edge ofthe opening 92,

the drawer maybe released because, -under 'such conditions, the left hand end of the placed, through being moved too far in either direction, a lug 98 struck from the rear of the drawer is bent over the shaft to limit its I upward movement. With the left hand end of the shaft in the opening 91, the lug is positioned so that the right hand end of the shaft may be raised high enough to allow the portion 95 of the right hand end of the shaft to be moved-through the opening 92, but it does not permit the shaft to be raised high enough to permit the end 99, which is of the same diameter as the main body of the-shaft, to be moved through the opening 92. Likewise, it

does not permit the main body of the shaft to be moved to the right through the opening 92. Accordingly, the shaft is effectively prevented from being accidentally misplaced through miseoperation. I

It is to be understood that the construction shown is for purposes of illustration and that variations may be made in it without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a metal cash drawer ohavlng supporting rails, longitudinally U- shaped members carrying rollers on which said rails travel, a housing for the cash drawer supported by said U-shaped members, a

' sitioned beneath the spring connected to the rear-of the drawer and to'a stationar fastening at'the front of the housing, a late for holding said drawer within the housing against the tension of the spring, means for releasing the latch, and a stop for limiting the outward movement of the drawer.

In combination, a metal cash drawer having supporting rails, longitudinally U- shaped members carrying rollers on which said rails travel, a housing supported by said U-shaped members, a bottom guide rail pocenter of the drawer, a guiding member carried by the rear of the drawer and co-operating with said guide myname.

THOMAS. M. BUTLER.

outward move and to. a projection at rail,'a spring connected to a clip bearing against said guiding member and to a projection at the forward end of the guide rail, a latch for holding said drawer in the housing against the tension of the spring, and a stop on the guide rail positioned to limit the J outward. movement of said clip.

3. In combinatiom-a base plate, longitudinally U-shaped members connected to said .base plate and supporting-rollers, a metal cash drawer having rails traveling on said rollers, a housing for enclosing said cash drawer'supported by said U-shaped members, a guide rail beneath'the center of the cash drawer, a guiding member onthe rear of said drawer co-operating with said guide rail, a spring connected to a clip bearing,

against said guide member and to a projection on the forwardend'of the guide rail, a

g1aga nst the tension of said spring,

latch for holding said drawer within said 

